Who Should I Start? Rodrigo Blankenship or Jake Moody

Monday, August 21, 6:14 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waived kicker Rodrigo Blankenship on Monday. Blankenship lost the kicking battle to Chase McLaughlin in training camp this summer and will now look to latch on with another team before the start of the 2023 regular season. The 26-year-old spent last year with the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals, going 4-for-5 on his field-goal tries and 4-for-5 on extra points in just three total games. As long as Tampa doesn't bring in more competition for McLaughlin to close out the preseason, he should enter Week 1 as the team's starting kicker. McLaughlin, 27, made 83.3 percent of his 36 field-goal attempts and made all 21 of his extra-point tries in 16 games with the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. The kicking position in Tampa won't be as exciting in fantasy now that Tom Brady isn't running the offense in 2023.

Friday, September 12, 5:06 PM

Former San Francisco 49ers kicker Jake Moody is signing with the Chicago Bears practice squad on Friday, a source told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. After struggling in the Week 1 win over the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday, the Niners cut Moody earlier this week. Moody is going to need to kick better to have a shot at replacing the veteran Cairo Santos after Santos missed one of his two field-goal tries in the season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night. The 25-year-old Moody missed two of his three field goals in Week 1, continuing a downward trend after a solid rookie campaign in 2023. Right now, the former third-rounder will just be insurance for Santos in Chicago, and he should remain on the waiver wire in all leagues. Moody has made 74.2% of his 62 field-goal attempts in his three years in the NFL and 97.9% of his extra-point tries.